The Tigers inked first round draft choice Andrew Miller to a 4 year contract.
This is the earliest that the Tigers have gotten their top pick into the fold in quite some time.
UPDATE: The club and Miller’s agent indicated that the deal was well underway prior to Luke Hochevar’s deal with the Royals, and the deal would have been finalized today regardless.
Dave Dombrowski indicated that there was a desire to get the deal done because he feels that Miller could possibly help the Major League team in September. Miller will start working with John Matlack and when he is ready will begin with the Lakeland Tigers. Right now the intention is to use him out of the bullpen in the short term. The long term plan is for Miller to be a starter.
Even if the Tigers don’t feel Miller will be ready to pitch for the Tigers in September, he will be with the team after the rosters are expanded.
Miller indicated that he is happy to be a Tiger and that “the future looks bright and I hope to be a part of it.”
SWEET!
i knew hochevar signing would help get miller signed, but i never thought it would be this quick
I didn’t really doubt the Tigs would sign Miller–they were aware of his “signability” (ie money) issues when they drafted him. However, I didn’t expect it this soon. And to possibly see him with the big club in September? Yowza, sweet indeed!
This certainly is exciting, I hope he’s ready….
Is there room for him on the 40-man roster yet?
This is the first time I’ve ever felt like the Tigers are the rich getting richer. There is just a stupendous amount of pitching talent in this organization right now. DD is going to have a lot of fun this offseason. Could make some spectacular moves.
the talk of a september callup is, in my opinion, crazy
If you remember, the reason that they hadn’t added an outfielder other than Clevlan was that they didn’t want to add someone to the 40-man roster even though they were only at 39. That suggests that things were already well in the works over this deal.
I don’t think it’s too crazy to call him up in Sept. He’s 21 and has had significant college playing time. I know that’s not the same as time in the pros, even the minor leagues, but it’s not like they drafted him right out of high school. According the the Freep he’s 6 months younger than Zumaya. And wasn’t Bonderman like 20 or something when he became a starter? Of course, I’m really looking forward to seeing him pitch, so this all may be just wishful thinking. 🙂
I agree that a call up for a newly signed draft pick sounds crazy for this team. Perhaps the lure of a September call up was a good bargaining ploy by DD.
I think I read somewhere today that a Sept call-up is actually in Miller’s contract.
Whether he is called up and whether he gets into games are 2 completely separate issues.